Super Shamar Joseph - Stumped, BBC World Service

Hello and welcome to Stumped, your  Intercontinental hit of news, features and debate from the quirky world of cricket. I'm  Eleanor Oldroyd, stepping in for Alison Mitchell. I'm here in London where it is cold, it is frosty  across the country, record low temperatures, snow and ice in the Highlands. Jim Maxwell, it's a  place you know well and I would love to be sitting next to you in possibly my favourite cricket ground in the world. It's a beautiful place. It's looking lovely at the moment. W

e're in twilight  time after the second day's play and it just looks superb. You could do an OB out there on the  ground in lovely temperatures of 25 degrees. So, fantasise. Absolutely and I'd love to be at Adelaide. Well, I'm at a cricket ground as well, which is made by my friend in the middle of  nowhere in between Mumbai and Pune. Hello, this is Charu Sharma and I'm here for Akashvani.  I'm happy to be on Stumped and looking forward to a game against the visiting Aussies from Wesley  Colleg

e, in Melbourne in just a short while. Charu is going to be an action later on. Jim is  coming to the end of his day. I'm starting my day and later on in the programme, we'll be looking  back at India's T20 series against Afghanistan. We will ask if India have found a new gem with the  T20 World Cup looming. But first, Jim we'll start at Adelaide Oval, where you are for the first Test  between Australia and West Indies. A lot of focus on Steve Smith making his first appearance as a  Test opener,

replacing the prolific David Warner. But it wasn't the start that Smith was hoping  for. Wow, it was an incredible catch as well. And what a debut for Shamar Joseph. But first  of all, Steve Smith, Jim, I mean, what was the reaction Australia to him being announced as an  opener, bearing in mind he's not played in that position before and the start that he made? A few question marks, but I think the fact that he became only the 23rd player to be dismissed by  a debutant's first ball in Test cr

icket kind of overshadowed his poultry score because this chap  who's come from the back blocks of Guyana after five first-class matches ended up taking five of  wickets in the innings. So, perhaps luckily for Smith, he wasn't the main focus of what turned  out to be a pretty exciting day or two here in Adelaide. And Shamar certainly was, having top  scored for a number 11 at 36, and then taken all those wickets. So, good on him for doing that. The  West Indies need a little bit of boosting here

. The minnow is really playing against the big boys  and that's the way it's looking on the scoreboard. Yeah, it came close to being a two-day Test match,  but they will go into the third day. And Charu, what did you make of Shamar Joseph? I mean, as  Jim says, he spared Steve Smith's blushes. Well, it's always nice to see the birth of a new star,  especially from the West Indies where new stars have been a short in the past or even a decade or  two. But typically the team is so mercurial that,

you know, almost always, they give you  a glimmer of hope and then of course they tank completely. I'm very disappointed at how the  Test match is currently poised. But just back to Shamar, a wonderful debut always makes you believe  in a cricketing nation that if that kind of talent is available, why was it not that earlier? And as  we know, they haven't quite sent their so-called number one team to Australia, which is strange  enough anyway. But all these situations give rise to possibilities

where new young hungry stars are  allowed their space under the sun. And what better to start the way Shamar did in Australia, which  is one of the toughest places to do very well in. To me, just signals that the West Indies are not  through yet. I mean, they haven't done very well in international cricket for a variety of reasons.  But if they have somebody like Sharmarh Brooks, you can come in and do what he did in Australia  first match. Then surely we can all still hope that the West Indies

have a lot of talent. It just  needs to somehow be given more air. I don't know what the commercial situation in the West Indies  is because will they continue, even Shamar, soon will he continue to go the franchise route and try  and make a quick livelihood out of his talents, or will he stay with the mainline West Indies  red-ball team? All of a sudden, those questions are going to be asked for a couple of matches. And this is a problem, Jim, isn't it really when you look at, I mean, Jason Ho

lder, who was their  Test captain a few years ago, Nicholas Puran, Kyle Mayers all opting out of the tour to play  in franchise cricket. You're always going to make more money playing franchise cricket unless you've  got support from the board and the West Indies, board just don't have the money that other boards  have. For example, the English, Australian and Indian boards. It needs the altruism of India,  Australia and England to give the West Indies some sustenance. If you think about it, the

top  players here, Kemar Roche and Craig Brathwaite probably get $250,000US on their central contract.  Compare that to the Australians and it'll be well over a million for the top players. So, you know, it's  understandable that those Australian players for the most part will be part of the fold, even  though the IPL auction is helping a few of them along in the next couple of months. But it's much  easier to be in Australia's position as a Test nation than the West Indies. I mean, there have 

been 10 players turned over from 12 months ago to this tour by the West Indies, and most of those  players are playing in some T20 thing in Dubai. So, fair enough they're going to make money out  of that. And I really think it's not just the ICC, it's the major nations; India, England and  Australia, that have to start saying right, if Test cricket's going to survive, we need  to support it by giving them some of the cake that we're eating. What do you think about that,  Charu? I mean, Johnny G

rave, who runs West Indies cricket, has made this point in the last 24 hours  or so. But is it not just West Indies that needs supporting? South Africa are not well off at  the moment, are they? Is it down to the ECB, Cricket Australia and the BCCI to do more just for  the sake of Test cricket? Well it's good thought but I don't really see it happening because these  three boards you mentioned are I think accepting what they're given almost by a sense of right,  because they are the big three. A

nd why should we share if we're given this money, we keep it? So,  I'm afraid I'm going to put the onus back on the people who are dispersing the cash or dispersing  the amount. I think the ICC needs to perhaps relook at what do they really want from the game?  Or, where do they want the game to go? If the top three nations are just going to become stronger  and stronger and the rich becoming richer, then I really don't think cricket will be as diverse a  game as most of us wish it would be. The

re are so many new nations as well. I'm not suggesting that  the problem is easy to solve because as you said, you've got to look after the Test playing nations  first and there's some parity there in terms of disbursement. Then, of course, we can start  looking at all the rest of the associate nations and then, of course, third tier and the newer  nations as well if the game is to develop. Sadly, it does require a fair amount of infrastructure.  It's not a cheap game to develop and unless the A

PEX organization wishes for the game to become  more global, it's going to remain in this very restricted rich nations becoming richer format,  which it may not be the best way to going in terms of widening the game and making it a truly Olympic  game where many other nations are also perhaps hopeful of doing well. Well, so that Test match  at Adelaide Oval looking set for an early finish, and people who've got tickets there who are not  going to be watching any action might want to do a tour of

the ground, because it is, as I said, one  of my absolute favourite cricket grounds in the world. I was so privileged to go there and have a  look at the iconic Adelaide Oval scoreboard back in 2017. It's one of the great landmarks in world  cricket. It's large wooden letter tiles, but it's made significant changes over the past few months.  Most notably in the women's Big Bash League. Now the scoreboard has been in use since 1911 and  is the only manual scoreboard still operating in major Aust

ralian venues to this day. So one of  the changes that fans witnessed was that the word batsman was replaced with batting to be gender  neutral. It was such fun to go behind the scenes. Jim, I don't know if you remember that, you'd have  been working on that Test match as well out there for Test Match Special. All of us working together  and getting to go inside the scorebox. I mean, when you are looking from where you sit at the  ground, in the commentary box for the ABC Jim, just describe the

view that you have of that end  of the ground with the cathedral which you can still just about see behind. Can you see it over  there if I turn the screen around? Beautiful. Moreton Bay figs as well. I mean, it is an iconic  scoreboard and it's one of the reasons why this is still a cricket ground, and not a damn stadium,  like so many other places have become with their electronic scoreboards which drive commentators  mad becaue they'll cut to something just when you want to 'and oh! What was

the score?' That's why  that scoreboard is so useful and uh... it's one of the the treasures of this ground which  is a lovely combination of the old and the new, and that's why it's still a ground and not a  stadium. You can actually see grass, trees, you can feel the breeze blowing through the place  and you can see that wonderful scoreboard with all the information that it provides. So, this  is still to a large extent what I call a proper cricket ground. And I can't say that about  some of t

he other places, which are ugly, unimpressive stadiums. Very good for football or  concerts, but no good for cricket. No. As I said, it was an ambition fulfilled when I finally got  to go there for the first time. I'm delighted to say that we can speak to Trevor Manuel, who is  a volunteer tour ambassador at Adelaide Oval. Trevor, good day, lovely to talk to you. Hi, how  are you? We should say first and foremost that it is always Adelaide Oval and not the Adelaide  Oval, shouldn't we? Well, it

depends when you're talking about because back in 1871 when the South  Australian Cricket Association was formed and they started to develop the Oval, it was actually  called The Oval. The committee named it after Kennington Oval, which back in the 1870s they  decided was the premier cricket ground anywhere in the world and so our Oval should bear that same  name. It became Adelaide Oval about 10 years later, Adelaide got into general use in the name  of the Oval and we have been Adelaide Oval e

ver since. The scoreboard, just tell us a little bit  about the history of the scoreboard. As I said, it's been there since 1911, I mean what does it  mean to you and to South Australians? I'm glad Jim could show you the scoreboard, because if some  of the committee had had their way back in 1911, it wouldn't have been where it is now. They  wanted to build on the southeastern corner, rather than the northeastern corner, and  the architect who designed it - Kenneth Milne - he was vehemently oppo

sed to building it where  they wanted it. So, he had to convince them to build it on the mound next to the Moreton Bay  fig trees, and he told them that if they built it on the south eastern mound, there'd be extensive  works in re-enforcing the mounds that was there, all sorts of excavations that would cost them  a whole lot more and of course they went to the cheaper quote. Built it on the northeast mound and  we think we know who got it right 112 years later. I mean this is a world, as Jim ha

s said, where  technology and AI is becoming the norm. I mean it's an anomaly really isn't it to have something  which is operated with levers and pulleys and hand painted signs. Yes. That's the glamor of it  really is the fact that it's a manually operated scoreboard and that it shows so much information.  If you could just take us right now Trevor inside the scoreboard itself and inside the box, just  describe what people see when they go on a tour of the ground. The bottom level of the scoreb

oard,  in true Australian fashion is a bar to service all the people on the mound, and then above the  bar there are four levels of the scoreboard. And during a Test match like the current one, there's  about five operators working inside the scoreboard across the four levels. There's one who operates  the lights to show who fields the ball and which batter is facing up. Another one does the totals  and the sundries. Then the two batters who are out in the middle, their names are actually up  on

level two. So there's someone else up there changing the runs that they're scoring and then  there's the need to change the bowlers figures and they move the name plates when someone gets  out and all of that. And how hot does it get in there on a match day? It gets very hot. We usually  tell our tour guests that, you know, sometimes in Adelaide you see the shutters open for no apparent  reason on a hot day. The no apparent reason is the poor guy's working in there are trying to get  a bit of a

ir in there because the back wall is actually corrugated iron and the front walls  painted black and that faces the afternoon sun, so it does get very, very hot inside the  scoreboard. It's been great to talk to you, Trevor. Hopefully I'll get you to give me a tour  next time I manage to get to Adelaide. I certainly will. No problems. Brilliant. Trevor Manuel,  who is one of the volunteer tour ambassadors at Adelaide Oval. Finally on Stumped, it's  going to be a huge year for T20 cricket with th

e marquee World Cup event taking place in June  co-hosted by USA and West Indies. The question on many Indian fans' minds is whether all-rounder  Shivam Dube could be the answer. He's been making headlines this week after making back-to-back half  centuries as India sealed the T20 series against Afghanistan. Charu, he made 60 in the first T20  and then 63 off 32 balls in the second encounter. And a lot of people are saying, Shivam Dube, why  have we not heard of him before? How impressed have yo

u been with him? Well, we have heard of him  before because...In fact, there's a bit of a story here where his father, who was a wrestler, didn't  quite want his son to go into wrestling but rather into cricket where as you know, it's the big thing  in India now. Shivam started out early, but he was always a little, should we say, he wasn't the  slimmest young man. And there was a long period in his life between the ages of what, 13 to 16,  17, where he actually gave up the game, thinking, well,

I'm just not ever going to be fit enough  for the requirements of international cricket. In the sense, he was a late bloomer and came onto  the stage back when he was 18 or 19 or so. Now, he obviously wants to be the all-rounder that  India or most teams are happy to have in, say, the absence of a Hardik Pandya, who will perhaps  be the first choice of a fast-bowling all-rounder. But, although he can hit the ball a very long  way and he does because of those long levers, he's about six ft 4 and

very well muscled. It's  in the bowling department that he hasn't really starred. In fact, there's a dubious distinction of  giving 34 away to a New Zealander. So, his bowling hasn't quite hit the highs, although he took a  wicket in the series against Afghanistan. But, for batsmen to be given an opportunities in  India, against Afghanistan you've got to say if they don't capitalise then, then he never  will. He has because of these two innings but I'm afraid there's a lot of competition.  And

of course, if Hardik Pandya, is fit and I think Shivam will have to sit out.  But it's just great for the young man that he's, I say young, he'll be 30, that he's back in  national reckoning. He's had a little on again, off again kind of a love affair with the  Indian team back from 2018-19. He does reasonably well for the Chennai Super Kings and therefore  MS Dhoni is one of his big mentors. But yes, it's a name. I think largely for his batting.  I'm not so sure he is the all-rounder that India

is looking forward to replace Hardik Pandya  in case God forbid he's injured. It's never too late to learn though, is it Jim? And he's  talked about the fact that Stephen Fleming, Mike Hussey, the Australian legend, of course,  and saying that they have always shown faith in him and that has been powerful for his game. So,  he is still learning by the sound of it. By the sound of it, yes. I have to confess I haven't  seen him play in this particular series that's just gone by. So, the thing tha

t is obvious with  Indian cricket is there's quite a lot of depth, quite a few choices. But you know, they want  their best team on the park playing their best cricket and not being a bit gun-shy or overtaken  by what occurs during big matches as was obviously the case in the World Cup final some months ago  against Australia. So, they've got the personnel. Whether this chap you're talking about has got the  ability to match it and move on past a few of the contemporaries is another matter. But

there's  certainly some strength around the Indian side, but you wonder how much of a hangover they're  still going to have in the next month or two as we head towards that that T20 about what they  failed to do when everyone in India expected them to romp in to win that 50-over competition.  I was going to ask you that very question, Charu, actually, because that wait for an ICC trophy  goes on, doesn't it for India? How much pressure, how much conversation is there in India about what  this T2

0 team can do? Well, it's going to ramp up the conversation. The expectations will always be  at a high, you can bank on that. Every time the Indian team goes to play any match anywhere in the  world, the Indian fans think, "Well, why aren't we winning?" because you can't win every match, but  who's to tell them that? There's certainly some very fine T20 players, and of course that has been  assisted by the fact that India do run the IPL, which is the Mecca of the T20 cricket.  There's so many h

ungry young cricketers, it's just that tournaments tend to be a marathon,  and you got to win everything and everything at the right time. And you miss one match somewhere  in a knockout stage and all the good work is undone. If they don't win, the Indian public will  be very disappointed, but they will, I repeat myself, be leading contenders again. Thank you very much  indeed to Charu. Thank you so much to Jim as well. And before we go just a reminder that Stumped has  been nominated for best c

ricket podcast in the sports podcast awards. There are two weeks left  to vote. Go to sportspodcastgroup.com to vote. Jim Maxwell, Charu Sharma, brilliant to see you  and we will see you again next week on Stumped!